iaaif magazine page 1-42 · although the world’s investment markets have converged to some...

Volume 02 | Issue 02 | April 2019 | www.iaaif.com

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KNOWLEDGEex

GlobalInvestments

Investing inLondonReal Estate

AlternativeInvestmentFund

Science &Art ofEquity Investing

For membership enquiries, please reach out to Ms. Foram Sheth (Manager- Memberships)

Email: [email protected]: 91-8657487784

AIWMI, Regus, Level 9, Platina, Block G, Plot C-59, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai-400051

AFFILIATE MEMBERS

CHARTER MEMBERS

FOUNDING MEMBER

The Indian Association of Alternative Investment Funds (IAAIF) has been established as a non-profit organization, with the objective of promoting and protecting the interests of the Alternative

Investments industry in India.

Need a solid platform you can count on?Look no further?

IAAIF is committed to act as representative & advocacy body devoted to promote transparency, professional standards and trust in alternative investments. IAAIF strives to promote the professional development of the alternative investments industry as well as facilitate interaction and collaboration among its members. The association also acts as a platform for dialogue on regulatory and policy

issues pertaining to AIFs and building linkages among various stake-holders.

Investing is about dealing with risk and uncertainty. While most of us love the returns on investing, it is important to remember that return on investment will always tag along with these 2 caveats. As Indian Investors are adapting themselves to the momentary risk and uncertainty being brought in by progressive Government policies and proactive regulations, International diversification is increasingly gaining favour.

Given the recent outperformance of various asset classes outside India, we believe it is a good time to have a closer look at the benefits of global

diversification. International diversification offers higher returns, lower portfolio risk, and higher Sharpe ratios, dominant risk factors and return drivers.

Although the world’s investment markets have converged to some extent, they still diverge in certain ways. Conditions for overseas investment have changed radically in the last decade. Accounting standards have converged, taxes have been simplified and today there are a host of exciting investment options available to Indian investors. However there are other issues to consider, as well, before investing in foreign markets, such as political environment, regulatory safeguards and market integrity.

Even with all the benefits, some studies talk about international diversification being very overrated and it may actually be decreasing as global markets converge. Also international diversification tends to be least liquid when investors need their money the most.

With all the pros and cons, we strongly believe the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages when it comes to investing beyond the borders. Exciting times for Indian HNW investors who are being wooed by one and all.

We are happy to play a constructive role in creating more understanding about global investments through our inaugural Global Investments Summit and this edition of IAAIF Journal. Hope you find it insightful. Please keep sharing your feedback.

Happy Reading !

Aditya Gadge

Welcome

KNOWLEDGE MAGAZINEex www.iaaif.com 1

KNOWLEDGE MAGAZINEex www.exqualifi.com 2

INDEX

04 AIF - THE GROWTH STORY

13 London Property Investment - why London, why now?

15 6th Indian Alternative Investments Summit 2019

17 The long & short of Long-Short Funds

20 India’s Top 100 “Women in Finance” 2019

29 Singapore - Asia’s most International Venue for REITs

30 Opportunities & Challenges for AIFs in India’s first IFSC,GIFT City, Gujarat

37 Understanding the Startup - Investor fit

42 Alternative Investments in Tier-II Cities

47 Films and an Investible Asset Class

50 The Science & Art of Equity Investing

54 Wealth Leader’s Interview

Page No.


AIF is currently $24Bn in Asset under managed and has gone through sea change over the last couple of years. The industry continues to grow as HNI’s continue to challenge the traditional investment structure and are getting increasingly inclined towards this asset class. In order to understand the growth of Alternative Investment Funds in India it is imperative for us to contemplate the current Economic environment of India.

One can see accelerated growth in the economic environment in India and recent study show how India’s focus on both primary and secondary markets is working as cherry on the top. In order to maintain a steady growth in this competing world there arises a need for long term and stable risk capital which is what the AIF’s bring to the table. A dual approach from both VC’s and PE’s where they bring capital and expertise to manage this well, helps fuel the economy further. Indian Economy has grown significantly over the last couple of years and so has the wealth accumulation which has led to a significant rise in High Net Worth Individuals(HNI’s) and Ultra High Net Worth Individuals(UHNI’s).

AIF - THE GROWTH STORYJagdish Sikchi - GM & Head Karvy Fintech Pvt LtdAdarsh Kulkarni - AM Karvy Fintech Pvt Ltd

$24 BnAUM andGrowing

A dual pronged approachfrom both VC’s and

PE’s where theybring capital and

expertise to managethis well, helps fuel the

economy further

2,36,34,370.00


According to the projections made by Karvy Private Wealth Report , the amount invested in Financial Assets is going to grow at 17% CAGR approximately and also the market share of the Financial Assets will substantially increase when compared to the Physical Assets a trend that is already visible.

Prior to the Alternative Investment Funds Regulations, there was no proper directive which allowed the Fund Managers or the Venture Capitalists to tap into domestic inflows. Also the investors had lesser options to invest their money in an asset class with a favourable risk-return ratio.

With the emergence of AIF Regulations, a framework that was designed by the Securities Exchange Board of India(SEBI) allowed the HNI’s or UHNI’s to invest their money in a new asset class such as Hedge Funds, Venture Capital Funds etc. Investors invest in this space to earn a significantly higher Alpha compared to other asset classes as these are big ticket investments. The fluctuations in prices of the AIF’s are comparatively less when compared to the traditional equity and fixed income products.

According to Karvy India Private Wealth Report 2018, the income in INDIA is growing at rapid pace and individuals are parking their funds in Physical as well as Financial Assets. Over the years the number of Financial Products to invest has increased phenomenally allowing investors to invest in them. The below table shows the growth and comparison of Physical and Financial Assets:

Wealth Outlook

Category

Financial Assets

Physical Assets 1,56,10,118.00

5,17,88,493.00

2,43,89,513.00

16.99%

9.34%

60.22

39.78

FY18 AMOUNT IN RsCrore

FY23 Amount in RsCrore CAGR% Proportion in FY

18

Financial Assets Physical Assets

Proportion in FY 18

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

According to theprojections made byKarvy Private Wealth

Report FinancialAssets is going to

grow at 17% CAGR


What is an Alternative Investment Fund?

Cat-I AIF’s generally invests in start-ups or early stage ventures or social ventures or SMEs or infrastructure or other sectors or areas which the government or regulators consider as socially or economically desirable.

These include Alternative Investment Funds such as private equity funds or debt funds for which no specific incentives or concessions are given by the government or any other Regulator.

Alternative Investment Funds such as hedge funds or funds which trade with a view to make short term returns or such other funds which are open ended and have an option to go long and short at the same time on an index or any particular stock and also can hedge their position.

an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) is a privately pooled investment vehicle that collects money from investors for investment in accordance with a defined investment policy. AIF’s are regulated under the Regulation 2(1)(b) of the Securities Exchange Board of India AIF Regulations 2012. In India AIF’s are private funds which are not under the jurisdiction of any regulatory agency.

Categories of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs)As per Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 Alternative Investment Funds shall seek registration in one of the three categories

Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) isa privately pooled investment vehiclethat collects money from investors for

investment in accordance witha defined investment policy.

Category I

Category II

Category III

As per Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)


Year Commitment(Rs in Crores)

Commitment(Rs in Crores)

Commitment(Rs in Crores)

Category Category 1 Category 2 Category 3

Jun - 18 28717.65 113169.88 37697.88

Mar - 18 28035.85 105798.54 31260.88

Mar - 17 20600.64 51734.48 11968.69

Mar - 16 10568.07 24061.58 4249.21

Mar - 15 8633.33 12085.02 1864.01

Mar - 14 6311.63 6059.08 739.62

Mar - 13 359.93 993.51 83.74

The Growth Story

The growth of AIF has been phenomenal since inception. If we look at the year 2016 and the year 2018 we can see that the amount of commitment has grown by 360%

Category III AIF has seen an exponential rise compared to 2016.

Category I AIF has been the lowest in terms of fund mobilization as growth was around 170% while the growth of Category II AIF has been 340% over the last 3 years.

Alternative Investment Funds have been active since theYear 2013, and the below table and graph depicts the growth ofvarious Categories of AIF’s from year 2013 till 2018.

“

“The growth of AIF hasbeen phenomenal

since inception


Category I – Initially had minimum commitment, however over the years there has been a steady growth in the numbers

Category II – This is the most popular AIF and has been generating a lot of interest among the investors. The primary reason for the popularity of Category – II compared to others is the tax benefit of “pass through status”

Category III Have gained importance due to significant and promising increase in its commitment amount. Cat III are mostly open ended hence the investors normally wait for a year or more to see the performance of the Fund.

Additionally they can also employ hedging strategies to protect the down side of their portfolio. These flexibilities have brought a change in investor mindset and which has translated into a rise in commitment amounts in the last couple of years.

The below Bar Chart details the growth of commitment received acrossvarious categories of AIF’s since 2013 year wise.

From the above graph wecould observe the following:

Category lll

Category lI

Category l

Years Mar-13 Mar-14 Mar-15 Mar-16 Mar-17 Mar-18 Jun-180

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000


The usual investors being High Networth Individuals(HNI’s), Ultra High Net Worth Individuals(UHNI’s), Companies and Hindu Undivided Families(HUF’s).

The new set of investors being Employee Provdent Fund Trusts of Private Companies, Employee Provident Fund Trusts of Government Companies, Foreign Individual Investors, Foreign Investors, Indian Partnerships, Non- Resident Investors.

Alternative Investment Funds also have an advantage of participating in the primary markets at the Pre-IPO stage, or in the IPO as an anchor investor or can also participate as a Qualified Institutional Buyer(QIB).

Alternative Investment Funds have a flexibility to raise additional capital through the green shoe option mentioned in their private placement memorandum and few of the prominent AIF’s have been exercising this option due to the growing demand and good market conditions.

Emerging Trends inAlternative Investment Funds

Over the lastcouple of yearswe have seen awide range of

investors comingin to the

AlternativeInvestment

Funds.


Category – I AIF have seen a upsurge in the usage of funds committed i.e. in the year 2013 the usage was around 20% of the committed amount and in the year 2018 the usage surged up-to 78% approximately.

Category –II AIF have seen a steady usage of fund committed since the inception of AIF, which has been maintained at approximately 70%.

Category – III AIF had a usage ratio of around 45% in the year 2013, and has almost doubled to 80% in 2018.

With respect to Category –I AIF’s as they are primarily Venture Capital Funds,It takes time to find a good investment at an attractive valuation. This is one of the reasons that the funds get deployed slowly.

The large number funds have started operations in Category – III AIF’s in the last couple of years, and they have the advantage of looking at listed companies and the information is publicly available unlike the Private Companies for the Category – I AIF. This is one of the reasons that the usage of funds is the highest in this category.

The below graph displays the amount invested from the commitment received by comapring, comparing the years 2013 and year 2018.

So, where is the Commitment getting Invested

Category I Category ll Category lll

Investments made as a %of Funds Raised (2018)

Investments made as a %of Funds Raised (2013)

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


ConclusionAfter looking at the growth of the Alternative Investment Funds in the last couple of years, many of the Asset Management Companies (AMC’s) are looking at exploring this route for raising funds. AMC’s are also looking at exploring investing options like, investing in a Distressed Fund, multi-managed funds, Fund of Funds etc.

This flow of money in to the AIF’s is going to get higher and higher as the time goes by. It also has the potential of replacing competing and emerging as the most favoured investment option, and tdue to the niche investment options that it has access to it has an added advantage of generating superior Alpha compared to other asset classes.

Another advantage is that the investor can opt for a mix of the market linked instruments and non-market linked instruments, which offer a better risk return trade off and not to forget the customization that is available for HNI’s and UHNI’s which allows them to invest in multi manager model.

Considering all the above advantages which favour not just the investor but also the entire eco system we are of the view that the Alternative Investment Funds are set to grow exponentially and might be the most favoured product for investment in the coming years.

AlternativeInvestmentFunds are

set to growexponentially

and might be themost favoured

product forinvestment in

the coming years.

Benham and Reeves are residential property consultants providing an end to end service Including:

Property acquisitionResidential sales

Furnishings Letting & property management

Tax return service

Your one-stop property partnerLondon China Hong Kong India Malaysia Singapore

The Investor’s Agent

+91-9819103645 | [email protected] | www.benhams.com

n

London propertyinvestment -why London,why now?Anita Mehra, Managing Director,Benham and Reeves

Why London?London property has long been a safe haven for international buyers and investors, enjoying significant investment from the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and of course, South and SE Asia. And investors have reaped the rewards – the UK's O�ce of National Statistics reports that the average London house price was just over £70,000 in 1988. Today it is £476,000 – a 580%

Increase over 30 yearsRental demand is strong, with renting becoming a way of life amongst Londoners – one third now live in private, rented accommodation and this is predicted to rise to 60% by 2025. Yet demand continues to outstrip supply and this shortage of homes provides a real opportunity for those who have the appetite to invest.

London is a global hub for finance, tourism, business, and education but it is a complex city, with rental demand varying between locations and multiple factors affecting local property values.

Expert, local knowledge is essential for successful investment You need to know where to invest and what type of property is most sought-after. You may believe Zone 1 is the best location but prohibitive property prices in traditional areas like Mayfair and Knightsbridge mean rental yields are lower, under 2%.

Rental hotspots now are Zones 3 and 4 where purchase prices are lower, yet rental demand is high due to major regeneration and large-scale property schemes and new transport links. Nine Elms (home to the famous Battersea Power Station) and East London are well developed, where typical yields are 3% - 5%.

So you need to do your homework or work with property investment specialists who know London in depth and have a good reputation.



Why us?Benham and Reeves is a name synonymous with successful property sales and rental investment in London for over 60 years. With seventeen branches (mainly located near or within popular property developments), we are one of London's oldest independent property companies, offering services from advice on where to buy for best long-term investment potential; getting you the best possible deal; helping you with the buying process; handover of the property; furnishings; finding suitable referenced tenants and full property management. Last year, we let 3,000 properties, worth £1.75 billion, many to corporate tenants working for FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies.

Unlike most London real estate agents, we have international o�ces in India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia staffed by locals who are experienced, tri-lingual professionals. We also have dedicated China and Japan desks in London.

Our directors visit our international regions regularly, hosting property talks alongside banks and providing private consultations with financial investment individuals and organizations. We advise on where to invest, where rental demand is strongest and which areas are up-and-coming. We offer expert analysis of property trends, explain what it is happening to property values, the market's long-term outlook and influences including new transport links and the impact of the UK's exit from the European Union.

We will be in Mumbai from Monday 15th – Saturday 20th April inclusive, holding one-to-one advice clinics and meetings with anyone interested in investment with no commitment needed – just a simple discussion on factors influencing the property market and how we might assist you with your investment plans. If you would like to book a consultation, call Denizia Vicente on +91-9819103645 or email [email protected]. Several other property talks are planned in other regions, Kuala Lumpur later in April and Shanghai in September. For further information, go to www.benhams.com/international

About Benham and Reeves?Benham and Reeves is a family-run lettings and sales agent which was set up in 1958 and now has 17 branches across in London, as well as international o�ces across China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, and Singapore. The company specializes in a custom, end to end service for homebuyers and investors in London and internationally, from the purchase of a property to property lettings and management, snagging, furnishing solutions, refurbishment, and tax accounting.


Indian Alternative InvestmentsSummit 2019

AIWMI & IAAIF jointly organized the6th Indian Alternative InvestmentsSummit 2019 (IAIS19) onJanuary 16th in Mumbai.

Aditya Gadge,Founder, AIWMI and IAAIF

40 Under 40 - Alternative Investment Professionalsin India for Year 2019

The gathering was a huge success with over 300 alternative investment professionals in attendance.

India's leading 40 under 40 Alternative Investment Professionals for the year 2019 were also felicitated during the event

Panel Discussion: AlternativeInvestment Funds– The Next Frontier

Nitin Jain, CEO – Global Wealth & Asset Management, EdelweissShrija Agrawal, Associate Editor, MintSiddharth Shah, Partner, Khaitan & Co.Gautam Mehra, Tax and Regulatory Services Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopersAndrew Holland, CEO, Avendus Capital Alternate Strategies

Panel Discussion:Inside the Mind of Investors

Rajesh Sehgal, Managing Partner, Equanimity InvestmentsSanjay Mehta, Private Investor, Mehta VenturesSridhar Sankararaman, Managing Director, Multiples Private Equity


Christophe Beelaerts, CEO, BNP Paribas Securities Services IndiaRichie Sancheti, Nishith Desai AssociatesRakesh Rathod, Edelweiss Asset ServicesRajesh Gandhi, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP

Ravi Saraogi, Head- Investor Relations & Products, Northern Arc Investments (Moderator)Rehan Yar Khan, Managing Partner, Orios Venture PartnersAashish P Sommaiyaa, Chief Executive O�cer & MD, Motilal Oswal Asset Management CompanyI A S Balamurugan, Founder, Anicut CapitalSunil Singhania, Founder, Abakkus Asset Managers

Focus on Commodities

Rishi Nathany, Head- Business Development & Marketing, MCX

AIF Advocacy Session

Pritesh Majmudar, Head – Legal & Compliance, DSP Investment ManagersTejesh Chitlangi, Senior Partner, IC Universal LegalAlok Mundra, Partner, KPMGGirish Sankar, Head- AIF, CAMS

Umang Papneja, Senior Managing Partner, IIFL Investment ManagersShobhit Agarwal, MD & CEO, Anarock CapitalSasha Mirchandani, Managing Director & Founder, Kae CapitalBharat Banka, Managing Partner, Fideliment Ventures LLPRavi Vukkadala, CEO, Northern Arc Investments

Abhay Laijawala, Managing Director, Avendus Capital Public Markets Alternate Strategies LLP

Structuring an AlternativeInvestment Fund

Asset Class Diversification

Focus on ESG Investing

Alternative Investment Funds- Categories, Strategies& Prospects


The Long & Short of Long - Short FundsNalin Moniz, Chief Investment Officer, Alternate Equity, Edelweiss Global Asset Management

Hedge funds are a recent addition to the Indian alternative investment landscape when the SEBI Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) Regulations were notified in 2012. Prior to 2012, alternative investment strategies that involved public equities were limited to long-only portfolios or one-off offerings from brokerage houses. However, the meteoric growth of Category-III AIFs has demonstrated that there is tremendous investor demand for these funds. In the past 6 years, Category-III AIFs have garnered Rs 37,698cr of AUM and the category has grown at a 160.9% CAGR over the past 3 years – the fastest in the Indian asset management industry. In contrast, global hedge funds manage USD 3.2 trillion and this has grown 10.1% over the past 3 years. In this section, we will shed light on key trends in the Indian hedge fund industry as well as cover client suitability, strategy evaluation, manager selection, and risk management.

Indian equity markets have three distinguishing characteristics that make them ideally suited for hedge funds – or funds that invest in public securities with a risk-managed approach. First, the long term returns from equities are attractive – over the past 15 years, the NIFTY has delivered a compounded return of 13.56% and the CNX Midcap index has done even better at 15.71%. Second, this long-term compounding has been punctuated by bouts of high volatility that investors have struggled to handle – the NIFTY was down -51.79% in 2008 and has spent 17% of the time in the same 15 years being down more than 20% from its peak. You have seen a 20% drawdown in the NIFTY on average once every six months!

And third, there is a high degree of dispersion in the performance of individual stocks – both in terms of their fundamentals and their returns – the average spread between the top half and the bottom half of the BSE 200 is 21.35% per year. These three together make our market ideally suited for a more risk-adjusted approach to investing in equities and for active management over passive management. In fact, the success of equity mutual funds where 84.8% of funds by AUM have beaten their benchmark over the past 5 years demonstrates that India is a stock picker’s market.

We will focus on long-short equity portfolios offered on category III AIFs as representative of hedge funds. These funds collectively have about 16,000cr in AUM today. It is possible to offer some hedge fund-light strategies in a mutual fund or PMS format, but the lack of leverage and tighter restrictions make them easier to understand.

A basic premise of any alternative investment is that it must be an alternative to a traditional investment option – hence the name “alternative”. In the present context, hedge funds are evolving on two main tracks: funds that are an alternative to equity in a client’s asset allocation - like the Edelweiss Alternative Equity Scheme; and funds that are an alternative to fixed income in a client’s asset allocation like the Avendus Absolute Return Fund and the Edelweiss Alpha Fund. Equity alternatives aim to offer similar or higher upside than an equity mutual fund but with a lot lower drawdown and risk while fixed income alternatives aim to offer higher yields than a debt mutual fund with the same consistency and capital preservation focus. Both categories of funds are characterized by an emphasis on absolute returns rather than returns relative to a benchmark – which is the focus of mutual funds. The benchmark for Indian hedge funds that are absolute return in focus is often CRISIL Liquid + a spread for a risk premium. If managers can deliver on these mandates it is not hard to imagine how popular this category will become.


Flexibilityrefers to an ability to vary the percentage of debt and equity in the portfolio, the mix of asset types and sectors and other portfolio parameters without constraint. Equity mutual funds are always constrained to have at least 65% of their AUM in equities and most funds shy away from taking large cash calls in their portfolios. In contrast, hedge funds have the flexibility to reduce exposure dramatically when markets are bearish, the freedom to not hug the benchmark and the foresight to be early adopters of new instruments such as Invits which the mutual fund industry has been slow to adopt.

Shortingis done through both the index and single stock futures and options segment. India is one of the rare countries to have a vibrant single stock derivatives market with 201 different counters. Shorting is a valuable tool to not only hedge risk in the portfolio and but also to express bearish views on individual stocks. Just like managers can pick stocks that are expected to rise in value, they can also pick stocks that are expected to fall in value. Stock picking on the long side has been very well explored over the years, but stock picking on the short side remains an open pasture and a fertile hunting ground for alpha. There is a lot of research and effort put into identifying stocks that are likely to do well, but not enough effort put into identifying stocks that are likely to do poorly.

Category III AIFs are the only domestic asset management vehicles that allow the use of leverage, but that too in limited amounts. SEBI has capped leverage at 2x on a gross basis with detailed and has stringent guidelines on offsetting, the calculation of leverage, risk management practices and reporting. The best practices from global regulations such as UCITS have been adopted and this prudent approach has seen the industry navigate turbulent times without any major losses. To clear a commonly held misconception, funds use the additional leverage to reduce risk through hedging not to amplify risk by taking on outsized positions. The cap of 2x on gross leverage means that strategies involving fixed income, currencies or any low volatility asset class will not make sense. It also means that funds will have to be run more conservatively than portfolios managed by individual investors – and rightly so because managers have a fiduciary standard when managing client money.

Put together and if managed well, investment flexibility, shorting and the use of leverage can lead to attractive risk-adjusted returns and a very interesting client proposition. So how does one get around to evaluating funds and selecting the right one?The evaluation of hedge funds has two critical components: an investment evaluation and an organizational and operational evaluation.

So how do they do it?The three key tools in a hedge fund manager’s arsenal are flexibility, shorting and the use of leverage. But in the meantime, managers that adopt operational best practices and are client-first in their approach are likely to see their businesses grow faster.

Globally, hedge funds are a $3.2 trillion industry and occupy approximately 5% of investorsí portfolios. We anticipate that the local industry will grow approximately 5X from Rs 16,000cr to Rs 80,000cr in the next 5 years with a core set of 10-12 credible and large managers who will collectively manage 80% of these assets. The focus is likely to remain equity-oriented strategies like equity long-short but may also expand to include newer asset classes like commodities. A secular decline in interest rates will drive investors to hunt for yield and is a catalyst for funds that are fixed income alternatives. While, diminishing outperformance in the large cap mutual fund space is likely to drive a separation of alpha and beta with investors choosing to invest in low cost ETFs and equity-oriented hedge funds. In the meantime, we encourage clients and advisors to give the industry a try ñ the present set of managers have done very well for investors and have the right ingredients to keep delighting investors with strong risk-adjusted returns.


They must outperform on the long side or on their bullish bets.

They must outperform on the short side or on their bearish bets. They must be adept at non-market linked opportunities such as high yield debt, arbitrage or special situations. They need to have a defined process for capital allocation. And perhaps most importantly, they need to have robust risk management policies and frameworks.

On the investment side,a manager must beevaluated onfive critical skills.

Unlike mutual fund managers who are largely homogenous in their approach, hedge fund styles can vary dramatically. Some managers have short term trading led approaches while others have long term investment led approaches; in some cases longs and shorts are linked through the use of pair-trading and in others they are run separately; some funds are closer to market neutral and run very low beta while others have portfolios with higher beta; some funds actively trade options while others eschew them entirely. The use of derivatives also means that cash utilization and economic exposures are not the same. This often confuses investors who are used to long-only portfolios where the two are the same. Hence, it is worth asking each manager how cash utilization differs from economic exposure.

The Indian market is still evolving, and managers have a shorter track record (3-4 years) compared to their mutual fund peers who in some cases have a track record of two decades, so it is important to look at each potential manager independently and ask them both qualitative and quantitative questions on the five skill sets laid out above. We anticipate that over time either global evaluators & databases like Mercer or Eurekahedge or local evaluators like Value Research and CRISIL will do this for you but for now this key due diligence is left to a client’s advisor. Thankfully, there are only a handful of managers now and this is not as daunting a task as it seems. We caution against chasing returns on this category of funds, because past performance may not be indicative of future performance especially when portfolios are dynamically managed.

Hedge fund sponsors range from established financial service players such as Edelweiss and DSP Mutual Fund to boutiques such as Unifi and Avendus. Given the range of firm sizes and the idiosyncratic style of each of the funds, it is important to evaluate the ability of an organization to deliver on the mandate of the fund beyond a single star fund manager. This is especially important because the minimum investment amount of Rs 1cr represents a material financial commitment for an investor. An independent risk management function, a documented process-driven approach, fund manager & investment team experience and the commitment of both the firm and the fund manager to invest in the fund are important elements of this evaluation.

We also encourage clients and advisors to focus on operational best practices including reporting of post-fee, post-tax returns; methodology for calculation of tax and performance fees; disclosure of portfolios and risk metrics; and transparent and relevant monthly attribution and commentary. We hope that SEBI prescribes a uniform reporting standard for all AIFs as it will build investor trust and confidence in the industry. But in the meantime, managers that adopt


WIF winners - Guiding

Anjali BansalNon Executive Chairperson –

Dena Bank,Founder - Avaana Capital

Bindu AnanthChairpersonDvara Trust

Brinda JagirdarIndependent Director &

Business Economist

Arundhati BhattacharyaIndian banker

& former Chairman State Bank of India

Deena MehtaManaging Director

Asit C. MehtaInvestment Interrmediates

M ThenmozhiDirector

National Institute ofSecurities Markets (NISM)

Madhabi Puri BuchWhole Time MemberSecurities & Exchange

Board of India

Menaka DoshiManaging EditorBloombergQuint

Naina Lal KidwaiChairman

Advent International PrivateEquity, India Advisory Board

Ranjana KumarAdvisory Board Member

India AlternativesInvestment Advisors

Monika HalanConsulting Editor

Mint

Renuka RamnathFounder

Multiples PrivateEquity

AIWMI released its inaugural Power List - India's Top 100 Women in Finance- 2019 on March 8th on the occasion of International Women's Day. This list is the first-of-its-kind recognition of the best and the brightest of women professionals (across different seniority levels) working in Indian financial services.


WIF winners - Leading

Shikha SharmaFormer ManagingDirector & CEO

Axis Bank

Shyamla GopinathChairpersonHDFC Bank

Roopa KudvaManaging Director

Omidyar Network IndiaAdvisors

Sherene BhanManaging EditorCNBC-Network18

Usha SangwanMD(Retd) - LIC of India,

Board member - Axis Bank,BSE & Grasim Industries

Usha ThoratEx Deputy Governor

Reserve Bank of India

Vidya ShahChief Executive O�cerEdelGive Foundation

Suneeta ReddyManaging DirectorApollo Hospitals

Arpita VinayExecutive DirectorCentrum Wealth

Management

Ashu SuyashCEO

CRISIL

Anuradha RaoManaging Director (Strategy)

& Chief Digital O�cerSBI

Alice VaidyanChairman-cum

-Managing DirectorGeneral Insurance

Corporation of India

Geeta GoelCountry DirectorMichael & Susan Dell Foundation

Chandini SehgalHead - Marketing

& ChannelsHDFC Credila

Financial Services

Faye DsouzaExecutive Editor

Mirror NOW -Times Network

Bahroze KamdinPartner

Deloitte Haskins & Sells


Lakshmi IyerChief Investment O�cer

Kotak Mahindra AMC

Lizzie ChapmanCEO & Co-Founder

ZestMoney

Manisha GirotraCEO

Moelis and Company

Kalpana MorpariaCEO India

J.P. Morgan & Co

Namita VikasGroup President & GlobalHead, Climate Strategy

& Responsible Banking, YES BANK

Navita YadavCountry MD - India & Global

Head of Capital MarketsVistra Group

Manjeet DhillonSr Vice President &

Head -HR and AdminKotak Securities

Meghana BajiCEO

ICICI PrudentialPension Funds

Poonam Vijay ThakkarHead Analytics & DigitalCommunications (L&D)

Aditya Birla Capital

Nupur GargRegional Lead - South Asia,

Private Equity FundsInternational Finance

Corporation

Padmaja RuparelCo- Founder

Indian Angel Network

R M VishakhaMD & CEO

IndiaFirst Life Insurance

Radhika GuptaCEO

Edelweiss AssetManagement

Rashmi Limaye GupteyChief Financial O�cer

Lightbox Ventures

Renu Sud KarnadManaging Director

HDFC

Revati KastureSenior DirectorCARE Ratings

Sapna NarangManaging Partner

Capital League

Shanti EkambaramPresident –

Consumer BankingKotak Mahindra Bank

Shivani Bhasin SachdevaFounder & CEO


Sharda BalajiFounder

NovoJuris Legal


WIF winners - Progressing

Sonia DasguptaManaging Director

JM Financial

Smita AggarwalDirector

Omidyar Network

Soumya RajanFounder & CEO

Waterfield Advisors

Upasana TakuCo Founder & Director

Mobikwik

Zarin DaruwalaCEO

Standard Chartered Bank

Veda IyerCMO & Head Sales APAC

Mphasis

Vishakha MulyeExecutive Director

ICICI Bank

Vani KolaCo-Founder & MD

Kalaari Capital

Aditi GuptaPrincipal

Asha Impact

Alpa ShahAuthor, Social Entrepreneur,

Finance Profesional,TEDx Speaker

Anu AggarwalCo-head, Conglomerates

and Corporate GroupsKotak Mahindra Bank

Anjana RaoVice President -

Change ManagementIndiaFirst Life Insurance

Ami SampatAssociate Vice President

Debt Capital MarketDerivium Tradition Securities

(India)

Aparna ShankerHead & Fund Manager,

Equity PMSSBI Mutual Fund

Avanti BoseDirector

PricewaterhouseCoopersService Delivery Center

(Kolkata)

Ayoshmita BiswasHead - Marketing &

Corp CommPiramal Capital

& Housing Finance


Chandni GuptaFund Manager

ICICI Prudential AssetManagement Company

Chandni ShahSenior Manager

Unifi Capital

Deepika Gupta PadhiHead -Investor

RelationsPNB Housing Finance

Farzana WadiaDirector


Deepti GeorgeHead of PolicyDvara Research

Foundation

Gesu KaushalExecutive DirectorKotak InvestmentBanking (KMCC)

Jyoti RaiHead of Channel

Partners & AlliancesEdelweiss Asset Services

Koel GhoshHead, South Asia,

S&P Dow Jones Indices

Jamuna VergheseSenior Adviser -

Inclusive MarketsPricewaterhouseCoopers

Pallabi GhosalPartner

AZB & Partners

Lavanya AshokManaging Director

Goldman SachsPrivate Equity

Malavika RaghavanHead - Future

of Finance InitiativeDvara Research

Foundation

Neha GroverInvestment O�cer

International FinanceCorporation

Plabita PriyadarshiLife Advisor

Kotak Life Insurance

Priyanka SrivastavaVice President - Investments

Family O�ceQuess Corp

Poonam TandonHead- Fixed Income



PrincipalLighthouse Advisors

Director - InvestmentAdvisory ServicesShah KhandelwalJain & Associates

Sharatee GhoshExecutive Vice President& Principal Nodal O�cer

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Vice PresidentFinanceWipro

Rasleen KaurHead, Corporate Strategy

& Investor RelationsPolicybazaar | EtechacesMarketing & Consulting

Rochelle D'Souza Shagun ThukralSandhya Sriram

Shilpa MaheshwariDirector Finance

Matrix Partners India

Suniti Rani NandaFintech O�cer

Govt. of Maharashtra

Shrija AgrawalAssociate Editor

HT Mint

Shashi SinghSenior Partner

IIFL AssetManagement

Two roads diverged in a wood,and I -- I took the one less traveled by,and that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost


WIF winners - Promising

Dhvani KamdarAVP - Capital Markets

Knight Frank

Khyati MehtaSenior Manager- Investments

Tata AIG GeneralInsurance Company

Krutika VakhariaVP & CFO

Oakcapita Advisory

Apurva DamaniManaging Director

Artha India Ventures

Namitha JanardhanAssociate Vice PresidentNorthern Arc Investments

Priyanka MohantyManager

Chiratae Ventures

Serena PaesManager – Marketing


Simerna SinghVice President,

Alternative Asset AdvisoryDuff & Phelps

Surabhi ChauhanFund ManagerWonderstocks

Taarini Kaur DangCEO

Dang Capital

Tina Suzanne GeorgeAssociate Vice

President - FinanceMuthoot Capital Services

– John Templeton

It is impossible to produce superiorperformance unless you do something different

from the majority.


Singapore is Asia’s most InternationalVenue for REITsSingapore hosts the region’s most international venue for Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) investing. REITs are investment vehicles that invest in a diversified pool of professionally managed real estate assets.

Singapore’s REIT Sector currently consists of 34 REITs governed by the Collective Investment Scheme (“CIS”), five stapled trusts and three property trusts.

The capitalisation of the REIT Sector has grown strongly from its establishment in 2002 and presently maintains a significant impact in regional REIT benchmarks. REITs also contribute approximately one-tenth of Singapore’s stock market turnover. Currently three REITs are a part of the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI), while another five REITs exclusively make up the STI Reserve List.

Property assets of SGX-listed REITs span retail, o�ce, industrial/logistics, healthcare facilities (hospitals/nursing homes), serviced residences and hotels, in addition to data centres

While 27 trusts of Singapore’s REIT Sector invest in Singapore properties, the property assets of the Sector as a whole span as many as 20 other countries. In fact more than 75% of Singapore REITs & Property Trusts own offshore assets across Asia Pacific, South Asia, America & Europe.

There is a strong Asia focus in the REIT Sector, with as many as 10 trusts investing in China property and seven REITs invested in Japan. Within the Sector, there are trusts that invest purely in Singapore, both in Singapore properties and International properties, in addition to investing purely in international properties. Moreover, of the 15 trusts that are solely investing in

overseas properties, nine trusts have been amongst the most recent 10 trusts to list on SGX. The exception to the 10 recent listings exclusively investing in overseas countries is Keppel DC REIT, which manages property in both in Singapore and across the World. The most recent REIT to list was Sassuer REIT, the first outlet mall REIT to be listed in Asia, with an Initial Portfolio comprising four retail outlet malls located in the People's Republic of China, offering investors the opportunity to invest in the country's fast-growing retail outlet mall sector. REITs raise capital to purchase primarily real estate assets, usually with a view to generating income for unit holders of the fund. This allows individual investors to access real property assets and share the benefits and risks of owning a portfolio of local and/or international properties, which typically distribute income at regular intervals.

The risks associated with a REIT investment vary and depend on the unique characteristics each REIT (e.g. leverage ratio, cost of refinancing, alignment of management fees), as well as the geographical location and quality of the underlying property investments such as concentration of properties and the length of leases. Other risks associated with stock investing (e.g. price risk, volatility and liquidity risks) also apply. Investors should study the specific REIT prospectus to understand its investment objective and details of the properties to be acquired before making an investment decision.

Investors can subscribe to regular reports which detail REIT performances and net institutional inflows at [email protected]

image


Banking and Forex: to be regulated by the RBI

Capital Markets: to be regulated by SEBI

Insurance: to be regulated by IRDA

Why consider AIFs in GIFT City?GIFT City as a facilitator of international business has already set a firm initial footing in the above-identified thrusts areas with more than 150 units licensed by the financial regulators already operating in GIFT City. The banking units at GIFT City are working well with transactions of more than USD 16 Billion having taken place. In the insurance sectors, the IRDA has licensed entities engaged in insurance business. And for the Capital markets, both; National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) are operating out of GIFT City, and several SEBI licensed companies are offering IFSC products from GIFT City.Setting up of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) in GIFT City, being the species of private pooled funds recognized in India, becomes another important step in commencing the third stage of a proliferation of financial and capital market activities. It is to be noted that the authorities at GIFT City and the SEBI are fully aware that India has a big market for India-focused offshore feeder funds which are set-up outside India. Keeping in mind the premise offered by IFSC as fully capital account convertible, i.e. providing full exemption from FEMA norms for transactions from and to the IFSC, emerges as an important alternative to offshore feeder funds. For all transactional and regulatory aspects, an AIF operating from GIFT City is an offshore AIF.Thus, to assess the viability of setting up AIFs in GIFT City as opposed to an offshore fund will require an analysis on Regulatory (fund formation, registration, tax considerations, etc.) as well as Operational (ease of conducting business, etc.).

Opportunities andChallenges for AIFsin India’s first IFSC,GIFT City, Gujarat.Introduction to IFSC andGIFT City

Avneesh Satyang,Associate, Nojuris Leagal.

Sharda BalajiFounder, Novohuris Legal.

India has been witnessing a high growth in the investment funds domain, ranging from fund-raising activity to active investments by funds, and also an adaptive and dynamic regulatory environment conducive to the witnessed growth. The formation of most of these funds, however, have been concentrated to the well-known financial hubs such as Hong Kong, Mauritius, Singapore, etc. The success of these financial hubs is generally attributed to the regulatory, tax and other business-conducive financial service centers. The International Financial Service Centre (IFSC), is India’s attempt to create an avenue into financial globalization.

An IFSC allows overseas financial institutions and overseas branches/subsidiaries of Indian financial institutions to operate within India and cater to customers outside the jurisdictions of India. This is achieved only when the IFSC provide favorable regulatory regimes and business environment to investors and financial institutions.

Provisions for the setting up and regulations of an IFSC were thus introduced in the Special Economic Zone Act, 2005, and in 2015, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) came into being to facilitate such financial services within the geographical territory of India, which would otherwise have been carried on abroad or through offshore branches/subsidiaries of Indian financial institutions.

As an IFSC, GIFT City is regulated under specific regulations and guidelines by India’s major financial sector regulators, i.e. the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA). This is because of the major identified thrust areas for IFSCs in India, which would need regulation as follows:


Continued applicability of the SEBI (AIF) Regulations, 2012 – the AIFs in IFSC Guidelines works under the broad ambit of the SEBI (AIF) Regulations, 2012 (the AIF Regulations). Thus, all provisions of the AIF Regulations and the circulars issued thereunder, will also apply to AIFs set-up in GIFT City, and also to the investment managers, sponsors, and investors. This would include periodic reporting, event-based reporting, adherence to disclosure norms to SEBI.

AIFs in IFSC are considered offshore entities - RBI, in its Foreign Exchange Management (International Financial Services Centres) Regulations, 2015 dated 02 March 2015 has stated that any financial institution or branch of a financial institution set up in the IFSC and permitted/recognized as such by a regulatory authority shall be treated as a person resident outside India. Therefore, under FEMA, the transactions with Indian residents or making investments in Indian securities would require compliance with FEMA norms.

No separate registration process – The conditions as applicable to domestic AIFs for registration with SEBI, will continue to apply to AIFs in GIFT City as well.

Operating Currency - AIFs operating in IFSCs can accept money only in foreign currency.

Eligible Investors - A person resident outside India, NRIs, Indian institutional investor permitted under FEMA invest funds offshore, Indian resident having a net worth of at least USD 1 Million during the preceding financial year (subject to limits under Limited Remittance Scheme of RBI). It would be beneficial if the guidelines clarify, whether investment by Indian residents into the AIF set up in GIFT City, which further invests into Indian companies, is considered as round-tripping.

Investible Securities – AIFs in GIFT City can only invest in securities that are; listed in IFSC; issued by companies incorporated in IFSCs; or issued by companies incorporated in India or companies belonging to a foreign jurisdiction.

Investment Route - Earlier, such AIFs in IFSCs could only invest in India through the FPI route. Now, such AIFs may invest in India through the FDI or Foreign Venture Capital Investor (FVCI) route as well.

Regulatory Regime for AIFs in GIFT CitySoon after the introduction of GIFT City, SEBI promulgated its SEBI (International Financial Services Centres) Guidelines, 2015 (SEBI Guidelines) on March 27, 2015. The SEBI Guidelines permits only ‘recognized entities’ registered with SEBI or registered/recognized with foreign regulators, to set-up units in IFSC, in this AIFs operating in IFSCs are treated as recognized financial institutions.Further operational and regulatory clarifications for stakeholders waiting to set up AIFs in GIFT City, the circular titled ‘Operating Guidelines for Alternative Investment Funds in International Financial Services Centres’ dated 26th November 2018 (AIFs in IFSC Guidelines) by SEBI, provided much needed clarity on several aspects with respects to setting up and operation of AIFs in GIFT City.

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The regulatory provisions applicable to AIFs in IFSCs do offer a viable alternative to offshore feeder funds and can act as a feeder fund for an Indian AIF. Other offshore funds investing in India which traditionally operate out of other countries like Mauritius, Singapore, etc. may deliberate on the option. Indian overseas fund managers looking to set up funds for investing outside India may find it easier to raise capital from overseas investors and Indian investors simultaneously. Indian offshore fund managers can also use AIFs in GIFT City as feeder fund to invest funds offshore.

Costs for setting up the fund appear to be much lower in comparison to setting up an offshore fund.

As a deemed overseas fund, conditions on overseas investments by Aa IF prescribed by SEBI in October 2015 such as overall investment limit (USD 750 million), specific SEBI approvals, and other conditions shall not apply.

Key Takeaways from the Regulatory Perspective

Key Opportunities:

Following is an encapsulation of other conditionsapplicable to AIFs operating in IFSCs:

USD 750,000Minimum Corpus

2.5% of the corpus of fund or USD 80,000 whichever islower (such interest cannot be through waiver ofmanagement fees)

The continuing interest ofManager / Sponsor

Minimum investment by Angel fund inVCU – USD 40,000. Maximum investment – USD 1.5 Million

Investment caps on Angel Funds

Angel funds to invest in Venture CapitalUndertakings (VCUs) as defined in Reg. 19(F)(1)(a) ofthe SEBI (AIF) Regulations, 2012. Also;- Turnover of venture capitalundertaking (VCU, is the company which receives theinvestment by the AIF) must be less than USD 3.75 Million- VCU must not be promoted/sponsored/related toindustrial group with group turnovermore than USD 45 Million

Investible entities

Investment from an angel investor should not beless than USD 40,000(up to a maximum period of 5 years)

Minimum investment value for‘angel investor’

a) Individual investor to have net tangible assets of at least USD 300,000 (excluding the value of principle residence).b) body corporate to have a net worth of at least USD 1.5 Million.

Criteria for becoming an ‘angel investor’


There is a lack of clarity with respect to AIFs in IFSCs being able to invest in securities listed on overseas stock exchange.

Although, investment under FDI, FVCI or FPI route is allowed for AIFs in IFSCs, it has not been specified whether such AIFs would require separate licenses to invest as FPIs or FVCIs. Ideally, as a recognized AIF, they must be granted FPI/FVCI status as well.

New Investment managers of AIF in IFSCs must necessarily be incorporated in the IFSC, this might add to the cost of setting up the fund. Ideally, if the IFSC truly aims to attract global funds, management by offshore managers should also be allowed.

With respect to Angel Funds, it appears that angel funds in IFSCs can only invest in Indian entities.

Key Challenges:

Key Development: Proposed Unified Authority forregulating all financial services in IFSCs in India

Tax and Operational Considerations for AIFs in GIFT City

Cognizant that the dynamic nature of the business conducted in IFSC requires immense inter-regulatory co-ordination, the Central Government has acted on the need for having a unified financial regulator for IFSCs in India to provide a world-class regulatory environment to financial market participants. Thus, the International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019 (the Bill) was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 12 February 2019 by the Finance Minister providing for the establishment of an authority to develop and regulate the financial services market in the IFSCs. This is an important development, as the presence of a unified and dedicated International Financial Services Centres Authority (the Authority) is proposed to play a significant role towards the IFSCs ultimate goal of ease of doing business.

Under the Bill, all powers relating to regulation of financial products, services, and institutions in IFSCs, which were previously exercised by the respective regulators will be exercised by the Authority. As per the Government’s rationale, the Authority will be responsible for providing a world-class regulatory environment to market participants from an ease of doing business perspective.

Under Sections 10(23FBA) and 115UB of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the IT Act), Category I and II AIFs are accorded tax pass-through status with respect to AIF’s income other than business income, thereby tax being chargeable in the hands of the investors. These provisions are extended to AIFs in IFSCs as well, as they continue to be tax residents in India despite being non-residents under FEMA.


Tax holiday under Section 80LA - Any unit set-up in an IFSC shall not be taxed in relation to income from business as follows in two blocks. First block of 5 years in which 100% of the income beginning with the year in which the permission or registration was obtained is exempt from income tax, and; Second block of 5 years in which 50% of income is exempt for the next 5 consecutive years.

Lower rates of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) and Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) - MAT and AMT in case of a unit located in an IFSC and deriving its income solely in convertible foreign exchange shall be charged at a lower rate of 9% as opposed to the general 18.5%.

Exemption from Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) - A unit located in an IFSC and deriving its income solely in convertible foreign exchange, being a company, is exempted from paying DDT at the time of distributing the dividend.

Gains from certain securities transferred by non-residents not considered as capital gains – Any transfer of derivatives, global depository receipts, or rupee-denominated bonds of Indian companies by a non-resident on a stock-exchange in an IFSC is exempt from tax on capital gains.

Exemption from Securities Transaction Tax (STT) – A transaction undertaken on a recognised stock exchange in an IFSC shall be exempt from STT.

Exemption from Goods and Services Tax (GST) – All supplies made to and made by units in SEZs are exempt from GST applicability.

There are several beneficial provisions available for IFSC units, however, since they are not AIF specific, which leads to ambiguities regarding the availability of such incentives to AIFs in IFSCs. Nevertheless, the beneficial provisions for IFSC units under the IT Act are as follows:

Apart from the tax considerations, units in IFSCs also being subject to the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 as SEZ Units might face other problems. This argument stems from the fact that the SEZs were originally conceived as specially designated zones to manufacture and export-oriented industries, and thus SEZ Units are subject to certain conditions which might prove di�cult for non-export-oriented business to satisfy. For example, in the recent Special Economic Zones (2nd Amendment) Rules, 2019 dated 07 March 2019, Rule 53 of the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006 was substituted to mandate a positive net foreign exchange earning by SEZ Units calculated cumulatively for a period of five years from the commencement of production. IFSC units specialize in financial services and products, might find it very di�cult to meet the net foreign exchange earning criteria set by the government.

Minimizing downside risk whilemaximizing the upside is a

powerful concept.– Mohnish Pabrai


The tax holiday is a big benefit for investment managers established in the IFSC, management fee and other income will be exempt.

Other exemptions with respect to MAT and AMT for non-market players, and DDT and STT exemptions make GIFT City an attractive destination.

There is dearth of clarity in taxation of income of AIFs in IFSCs on many fronts, such as will the tax holiday be available to AIFs in IFSCs with no business income, whether investors in AIFs will be required to obtain PAN and file tax returns in India in case of tax pass-through being available, etc.

There is a need to harmonize the provisions as applicable to SEZ Units with respect to IFSC Units requiring necessary carve outs and exemptions to be created.

Unless a unified regulator is in place, the problem of multiplicity and overlapping of authority will continue to diminish the growth of AIFs in IFSCs as viable alternatives to offshore funds.

Key Opportunities

Key Challenges

Observations:There certainly are numerous benefits for setting up an AIF in GIFT City. With the proposed unified regulator, ease of doing business, it holds many promises.However, it is to be noted that many grey areas especially with respect to taxation of AIFs in IFSCs need to be clarified and resolved to understand the true effects of such provisions on AIFs as mentioned above. The determining criteria would be clarity to the tax incentives available for AIFs in IFSCs. How well does GIFT City perform, will determine the success of AIFs in IFSCs, too.


Atul Javeri, Founder & CEO at Eaglewings Venture Services

It is now a well-known fact that India is the third largest Startup nation in the world. The number of tech Startups as per NASSCOM report has now grown to 7700. Even the number of incubators and accelerators together has crossed over 200. Despite that, during the years of 2016 & 2017 and for most part of 2018, Indian startup ecosystem itself was found to be passing through the ‘Valley of Death’.

Year 2016 saw a huge dip in VC funding to USD5.5bln vs. USD8.9bln in 2015. While 2017 was a good bounce to USD13bln; in 2018 again it dropped a little to USD11bln. Numbers of deals though have been reported to be coming down steadily with 1002 deals in 2016, 936 in 2017 and 743 in 2018 (Source: Inc42).

The increase in funding value has been encouraging, but most part of it is known to have gone into Series A and beyond rounds. Angel, Seed and Pre-Series A round seekers have been left looking upwards to the sky like the poor villagers of Champaner from the movie Lagaan.

But the enthusiasm and fascination towards being part of the ecosystem hasn’t faded at all. The rise in the number of startups has augured well for other participants of the eco-system too, or maybe vice versa. There has been a consistent rise in the number of incubators, accelerators year on year since last 3 years. Not to forget the addition of big sharks at the top of the food chain, the venture capital investors. While the number of incubators and accelerators in the country is estimated to be upwards of 200, which includes academic incubators and corporate accelerators, the number of formal investment firms is estimated to be much higher than that if not equal.

With angle tax issue not seen to be as troublesome anymore, the investor segment appears to be coming of age with a clear cut segmentation evolving viz. Angel, Seed/Early stage VC, Micro VC, Social Impact VC, Family O�ce, Corporates, Foundations etc., readying to take a bigger bite of the opportunity.

Hence, before knocking on wrong doors, it is imperative for founders to identify the right investment partners that can meet their financial need as well as scaling up support.

Every category of investor has it’s own investment strategy backed by a pre-defined investment objective/philosophy. Every investor will have it’s own likes and dislikes towards particular sectors and industries. And every investor will have it’s own criteria to follow with regards to stage, size and structure of the investment.

While there is no scientific approach to this process, little bit of market intelligence is what is required to know, to whom your pitch deck should be directed. Add to it, a formal and a professional approach through right channels, you can ensure yourself an attention to your e-mail in the investor’s inbox.

So assuming you are ready with your pitch deck and business plans, let’s get a broader understanding of each of these investor categories before you start shooting in the dark:

Understanding the Startup - Investor fit


Angel Network Platforms:Entry point – Typically, after the founders have shown enough skin in the game by putting their own money and some pooling from friends and family members, angels would come into the picture.

Desired business stage – When a concept or idea has evolved into some tangible product/solution or when a business is off the ground through some marginal sale.

Typical investment value – Collectively, anywhere from Rs.10lacs to Rs.2crs; individually it could even start with Rs.5lacs per investor.

Manner of investment – Usually, angels invest in a group of 5 to 20 investors, who are members of a particular platform. Angel investors are known to follow a herd mentality and would let one investor lead the round on everyone’s behalf.

Core Benefits – Apart from using the funds to build a team etc. , angels help in much needed business development support by connecting to large potential customers in the early days.

Exit point – Mostly, in a subsequent seed round or early stage VC round.

Micro/Seed VCs:Entry point – Usually regarded as seed investors, they typically enter when the venture has achieved an angel round and a further push is required to grow the business.

Desired business stage – Micro or Seed stage VCs would generally look at the growth trend of a business during it’s 1st or 2nd year of operations. At this stage, even if the venture is not profitable, an investor would look at the traction of the business in terms of incremental number of customers, unit economics, founder’s commitment to business viz a viz the size of the opportunity.

Typical investment value – Investment value of such investors would usually fall in the range of Rs.1 – 3.5crs. (USD150000-500000)

Manner of investment – Micro VCs would generally be independent investors or first institutional investors but in some cases, could tag along with angel networks.

Core Benefits – Micro VCs help you gain control on your unit economics and facilitate in prudent funding deployment.

Exit point – Typically would remain invested till at least Series A round.

Early Stage VCs:Entry point – Once a venture has received enough funding from angels or seed stage investors, an early stage VC would consider investing in that particular startup.

Desired business stage - A startup at this stage is expected to have a well-accepted market product, a considerable number of customers on board and in pipeline, clear revenue visibility and favorable unit economics etc. Such stage in market parlance is known as pre-Series A or Series A investment.

Typical investment value – Investment appetite of early stage VC is generally high and their cheque sizes could range between INR3.5cr to INR21cr (appx. USD0.5-3mln).

Manner of investment – Early stage VCs are the most smartest and sharpest breed of investors in the universe under consideration. They would either like to go alone or get a co-investor who could match their size, reach and credibility.

Benefits – Early stage VC investors help the founders with strategic direction of the organization while managing the growth and scale of business. Moreover, these investors could continue to support the venture with additional funding rounds if required.

Exit point – Early stage VC like to stick around for long and would look for an exit during larger rounds like Series B/C/D and so on or eventually an IPO.

Good luck iswhen opportunitymeets preparation,

while bad luck is whenlack of preparation

meets reality.

- Eliyahu Goldratt


Social Impact VC / Foundations:Entry point – Social Impact VCs more or less would operate on similar lines of seed and early stage VCs barring their narrow investment focus.

Desired business stage – Social impact investors are very segment focused and would consider businesses that essentially benefit the rural sector, under privileged societies, mass markets etc. Only businesses that can create larger social benefits like better farm produce for farmers, increased employment opportunities, financial inclusion etc. would generate interest from such type of investors. However, they look at commercial gains as well at the same time, hence if your start up has already proven it’s abilities to cater to these segments of the market with sustenance abilities, you might have made an impact on them.

Typical investment value – Similar to the lines of micro VCs, social impact ventures would invest generally within USD0.5-1mln.

Manner of investment – Such investors would typically pair along with investors having similar objectives and mandates or could go alone as well.

Core Benefits – Partnering with a social impact VC is all about meeting of minds and meeting of needs. If your startup is built for a social cause, such investors can hand hold you for long.

Exit point – Social impact VC could look at exiting when a larger VC with a similar mandate or a foundation is looking to pump in more funds.

Foundations carry similar mandates to social impact ventures, however, they do not consider their investment as a time bound commercial opportunity. They adopt a very long-term approach in supporting the cause while contributing financially. It is more of philanthropy than an investment.

Family O�ce:Entry point – Family o�ce investors are a conservative lot and hence their entry point usually would lie somewhere along the seed stage or early stage of the businesses. Most of them have also entered the game by becoming angel investors first.

Desired business stage – Investing in startups is relatively a newer area for family o�ces hence mostly they would replicate the strategy followed by seed stage or early stage VCs. Their investment could be strategic or just financially participative in nature. That said, family o�ces would generally choose businesses from sectors in which they are already present and can add value to it.

Typical investment value – While there are some large family o�ces in India who have made significant strategic investments, typical investment of a mid size Family O�ce would be on the lines of early stage VCs i.e. USD 0.5-2mln mostly.

Manner of investment – As mentioned earlier, for family o�ces, startup investments is a new asset class altogether and many of them are yet to build their internal capabilities. Hence a FO would generally be a co-investor along with a seed or early stage VC and wouldn’t go independent.

Core Benefits – Family O�ce investors bring in lot of domain knowledge, especially in the fields of marketing, branding, distribution etc. blending the nuances of online and o�ine business channels.

Exit point – Again, family o�ces would ride on their co-investor’s strategies and would look for an exit opportunity during subsequent series rounds.

image


Corporate investors:Entry point – Corporate investors have a very objective oriented approach and would consider an investment after all funding rounds, at least till early stage funding have been secured. Provided some innovations they would like to support that can help them establish a completely new but a related category.

Desired stage of business – Mostly only innovative businesses would cut the rank here. A startup solving an idea which a corporate would like to adopt for it’s business instead of developing it internally, will be an ideal fit, irrespective of it’s stage. Some corporates would really take a very long-term view and invest in startups that have alignment to their core activities.

Typical investment value – While corporates are known to make investments in 100s and 1000s of crores, their funding commitment is spread over a period of time hence not easy to ascertain a specific number range.

Manner of investment – Most corporates either like to take a single larger minority stake in the startup or take the startup completely under its fold and keep funding it at every required stage.

Core benefits – If your startup is wading into uncharted territories of electric mobility or any other sunrise industry, which requires continual capital support, corporates with big balance sheets are your best partners.

Exit point – Corporates with adoptive strategic investment approach wouldn’t be necessarily looking to exit from a venture unless, the investment is made under it’s VC arm.

Now that we have a better understanding of various type of investors and their method of investments, one should also do some research on each of these investor categories by visiting their websites or through online journals. Some intelligence gathering is warranted before carpet-bombing the market. If not, then a banker or an advisor can always help you hit the right targets through surgical strikes.

(Disclaimer: This article attempts to give an overview of how different type of investors follow a particular approach of investing. The article does not take into account the various qualitative and quantitative factors followed by respective investors before making an investment decision.)

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The topic of Alternative Investments and particularly in Tier II reminds me of words of Mr. Vivek Pandit of McKinsey – “once underestimated – now underserved”. The same words apply when in comes to the state of affairs of Alternative Investment growth in Tier II cities in India, completely understanding that the Tier I cities have already been warmed up for Alternative Investments as a category.

There are enough and more articles available on an investor’s need to diversify into Alternative Investments, shifts happening from institutional to individual access to alternatives, etc. The investors as well as the investment advisory community are already aware of the same.

Alternative Investment industry in India has grown rapidly in the last few years and that includes the segment of High Networth Individuals. Little over 5 years back when I embarked upon my entrepreneurial journey, I was made to believe that Alternative Investment industry is predominantly confined to Metro locations and that too Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore to be more specific. Like anyone else would, initial time spend was in the same market, and fortunately, I did not find them crowded (or even adequately serviced) then. As on date, it is true that bulk of the penetration remains in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi markets in particular, and Tier I cities in general.

Working only on Alternative Investments, I work through wealth managers spread across a total of 24 cities in India including the metros. My experience of relatively smaller or generally discounted cities has been a great lesson as well as a positive surprise for my Alternative Investments journey, and is surely making a compelling case for the next round of growth engine. I have strong reasons to believe that the next 5 years will see a catch-up by the Tier II cities. The under-currents are clearly visible.

Couple of months back, we had carried out a specific survey on Acceptance of Alternative Investments with Investment Advisory or Distribution Channels. This was done with a total of 86 distribution partners across 24 cities in India. We had kept Equity Portfolio Management Services outside the purview of this survey. For the purpose of this article, we filtered a total of 24 partners spread across 11 Tier II cities. We

had given few parameters on (a) What works for Alternative Investments; and (b) What does not work. This was to gauge the acceptance level, as well as addressing the core issues that can help embrace Alternative Investments.

Interestingly, they were least fearful of illiquidity of such investments. There were no major concerns even on ticket sizes being too high.

Alternative Investments are expected to deliver significantly higher alpha over the listed equity or fixed income space when compared to similar asset class.

Diversification is essential for management of portfolios of High Networth Individuals; &

Self satisfaction of being able to serve the investors better

Less remuneration as compared to traditional products

Lack of Basic Understanding among advisors or distributors. The underlying message was that the participants have spent time on product sales or introductions, but not on concept education.

Too complex to understand at first instance.

When asked what works forthem, the top 3 reasons were

Apoorva Vora, Founder & CEO, Finolutions Wealthcare LLP.

When asked what does notwork for them, thetop 3 reasons were

Mainstreaming ofAlternative Investments inTier II cities


We also made a specific comparison to check how does a wealth manager sees alternative investments, in Tier I as well as in Tier II cities. This perception is important to gauge largely for educating the extremes, if any.

You would observe that Tier I city wealth manager sees diversification as the most important reason for considering alternative investments, whereas for Tier II city wealth manager, the returns out of the product remain the most significant driver for allocation to alternative investments. There are no major perception level differences otherwise.

There are few parameters which are important for successful penetration of Alternative Investments in Tier II cities.

Need for Education:Metro locations have the advantage of access to various participants of the Alternative Investment ecosystem. This makes it easy for an advisor as well as an investor to understand the options. An additional factor is the competitive nature of Metro locations where a client often gets serviced by more than one wealth manager and therefore has wider access to avenues. The need is to spend some resources in development of adequate understanding for alternative investment markets in smaller cities. Continuous efforts even for limited iterations will yield results in development of such markets.

By education, I am largely referring of Macro understanding. If we want to educate on structured products, let there be some understanding created of derivatives. Similarly understanding of unlisted ecosystem starting from seed to private equity will help understand and evaluate unlisted funds.

What one needs to take care is the risk of mis-selling even if unintentional. It is therefore important to have education for wealth managers as well as investors.

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Access to options:Lack of market and lack of options are more like chicken and an egg story. Tier II cities often do not have access to certain products, thereby less awareness creation, and thereby inability to reach investors. The end result is inability to expand market.An additional factor to note is that most Alternative Investment options have very limited distribution bandwidth. This further limits the product access to metro locations and more importantly, through very select wealth management players.

Due diligence challengesInvestors in non metro locations tend to take more time in deciding and committing investments. There are several reasons for the same, but the most important is the development of comfort, either through due diligence capabilities, or through peer group references. While a large number of investors from smaller cities tend to rely on trust and judgement (generally in the same order) of their wealth managers; we have witnessed some cases of smartest of questions posed to the Alternative Investment Manager.

DisclosuresThis point did not get captured adequately when we look at our discussions with wealth managers. While we discussed with many, only couple of them raised the issue of inadequate disclosure as a deterrant for their conviction to Alternative Investments. Those were lot more evolved in their understanding of Alternative Investments.The expectation was that the regulator should make it compulsory for Alternative Investment Funds to disclose fund mobilization, utilization and returns data on the regulator site at some periodicity.

Track RecordThe biggest advantage of the mainstream investment is the knowledge and records of historic performances. In most Alternative Investments, historic performance are either not available, or are less trustworthy. This does become a deterrent for atleast a relatively less equipped wealth manager.On a separate note, we also found that the wealth managers were less equipped to either understand, or educate investors on taxation related to the product category.

To summarize, there are a lot of impediments to the growth of Alternative Investments in Tier II cities. These are largely surrounding education, access, due diligence and subsequent execution. At the same time, diversification need is felt widely. We strongly believe that with some efforts on education, the Alternative Investment industry is slated to grow even in Tier II cities, and will witness a catch-up with their Tier I counterparts.

Note : For the purpose of this article, Alternative Investments will include all kinds of AIFs and global products. We have not factored Equity PMS as part of this.

image

Mohanish Vaidya, Wishberry Films


Films as an Investable Asset Class

Films have always held a special place in every Indian’s heart, but few investors have explored films as an asset class owing to the perceived risk and lack of transparency. However, the advent of digital distribution of content coupled with the access to cheap data plans has provided new opportunities not only to filmmakers, but film investors as well.

Why were films risky investments?Traditionally, even film producers rarely invested their own money into their films. It was usually friends, family and fools (‘“passion money”, in investment terms) who invested because they wanted the glam-our and dreamed of the potential upside trumpeted by the press.

Even if the story was good, the only way to monetise films 5 years ago was a theatrical release and sale of cable/satellite rights. However, only a fan favorite star (who inflated the budget by least 150%) was capable of pulling crowds to the theatre and advertisers to television, irrespective of the story. Furthermore, heavy marketing spends ensured that competing smaller films never caught the public attention.

And then there was the issue that filmmakers were not business savvy. Lack of planning meant there was no control over expenses and films frequently went over budget, and worse, stalled because the “passion investors” wouldn’t pump in more money.

Even film funds which operated as early as 2008 have failed due to monopoly of the box o�ce and over-op-timistic bets. Hence the regular HNI investor has stayed away from films as an asset class. But these reasons are now becoming less relevant by the year, as we explore below.

Content is the new crowd puller2016 was a game-changing year for content in India, especially Indian cinema.

Netflix and Amazon Prime Video made their way to India with a combined war chest of $1 billion to distribute content online. Subsequently, local players including HotStar, Zee5, etc. amped up their digital businesses. And to top it off, Reliance Industries launched the Jio Network, which slashed the cost of data by 90%.

Indian consumers now had the choice to watch cinema online at affordable prices and from the com-fort of their homes. So, if films have mixed reviews despite A-list celebrities (think Tubelight, Jagga Jasoos,Thugs of Hindostan), consumers no longer rushed to theatres to watch them. In fact, films with B-list celeb-rities, but novel content began to thrive. Badhaai Ho and Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety both earned Rs. 120-150 crores in box o�ce against a cost of Rs. 25-30 crores. In contrast, Akshay Kumar’s Gold also earned 100 crores but at 3x the cost, i.e. 107 crores! And let’s not forget how both Zero and Thugs of Hindostan bombed at the box o�ce despite multiple A-list stars. This change in consumer behaviour was great news for the business of cinema. Producers could now focus on developing novel content, which is less expensive than paying big stars!

Regional films have become meaningfulThe Marathi, Bengali and a section of the Tamil audi-ence have traditionally watched theatre, and not cinema. Hence, their expectations from a movie are a) good story and b) good acting. Their indifference to star value means that A-list celebrities cannot com-mand enormous salaries (except for Rajnikanth), keeping film budgets in check. Babban (2018) was a Marathi film starring newcomers that cost Rs. 2 crores and earned Rs. 15 crores in box o�ce. Similarly, Kaaka Muttai was a Tamil film that

- Benjamin Graham

The individualshould act

consistently as aninvestor and not as a

speculator.


Figure 1: Kakka Muttaidelivered 108% ROI

Sample film

Comparison between film and startup investmentsGone are the days of stashing cash, opening fixed deposits and hoarding gold. The Indian middle class is no longer content with a 7% annual return on their wealth. They are leaning towards newer asset classes, believing “Mutual Funds sahi hai”. The a�uent class, which have a larger investable corpus and hence a bigger risk appetite is on the lookout for higher risk-reward products.

Given the recent startup boom in India, angel investments in startups have become a sought after asset class for the opportunistic investor. However, you have to wait for 5-7 years before you see a good exit, and only one out of 10 exits are worth the wait.

Similarly, films also have the ability to deliver tremendous upside on an investment, however, a film delivers results within 18-24 months, if planned and executed well, which is a huge plus. Also, a film’s intellectual property always holds tremendous value given the current strength of the sellers’ market. So on the downside, investors won’t lose their entire capital but should recover 50 cents on the dollar invested in a well-planned film.

Operational problems in film investmentsAlthough market forces favour film investment today, there are multiple operational issues a film investor can encounter.

High content regional films can be made for as little as Rs. 2-5 crores and investors must look at options wherein they can take small bets across multiple films. Most producers inflate budgets to include their personal share, which investors need to be wary of.

Films take approximately 6-9 months to get made (including post-production) and another 6 months to start generating revenues. The total investment cycle is anywhere between 12-24 months. Non-adherence to timelines can degrade the time value of investment.

Filmmakers generally aren’t great businesspeople, however strong their creative chops are. Depending on the filmmaker to exploit the film’s intellectual property may not be sensible. Investors need to rely on a strong curation platform, just like Mumbai Angels or Angelist in the startup world.

On the buyers’ side, the number of regional OTT platforms has exploded in 2017-18. Zee5, HoiChoi, MX Player and SunNXT are betting big on regional content by competing for the best available films in terms of content and not just cast.

Rs. 10.8 cr

ROI:

108%

Rs. 5.2 cr

Cost Sales

Rs. 1.5 cr

Box o�cePromotion

Internation salesRs. 2 cr

Hotstar / B-Sky Rs. 1.3 cr

TVRs. 1.5 cr

Box o�ceRs. 6 cr(Rs. 11 cr gross)

Rs. 3.7 crProduction


Advantages of a financing platformA.L. Riding (2008) in his research found that informal investors who add value to the venture are likely to achieve higher returns than “passion money” investors.

Sourcing and evaluating films to invest in, is not the competency of the regular investor. You need to select films which have a) a novel script, b) a smart budget, and c) great sales potential. A smart choice would be to invest through a platform that employs film critics and regional advisors to filter scripts, production experts to evaluate budgets and experts that have relations with digital platforms, theatrical distributors, etc. to gauge revenue potential.

A bonus would be to have a highly networked expert to handle the sales and monetization of the film. A film today can have multiple revenue streams, such as digital rights, box o�ce revenue, cable/satellite rights and international territory sales. Not only must the sales agent explore all possible stream per film optimally, they should also be transparent with the distribution of revenue among investors.

Last wordLet’s not shy away from the fact that films are an art form. For thousands of years, only kings and governments had the power to encourage the art they liked. It is time to destroy this age-old trend and bring the power to the investor. If you ask us, today Content is definitely King, but Content Investors are Kingmakers.

The secret toinvesting is

to figure out thevalue of something

– and thenpay a lot less.

- Joel Greenblatt


The Science and Art of Equity Investing

Behavioural bias is one of the biggest challenges in running a sustainably successful investment operation. What helps here is to have an extremely robust framework to manage the investments. There are three important layers to this framework. First layer is an investment philosophy which provides a strong foundation to the framework. Built on top of that layer is the second layer, i.e. core principles, and then, finally, on top of that is the last layer, i.e. a set of rules that will guide you through the turmoil of markets. One should remember that the investment philosophy is the most important overarching entity that is timeless and remains constant. Principles help you put the philosophy in action and can evolve over a period as the investment environment evolves. Rules are the final implementation of the principles. A rules-based framework helps you avoid several behavioural biases and keeps you focused. Though remember that the rules are not to be followed blindly. Rules are for less sophisticated investors to help them follow a set path, but the rules have to be continuously re-evaluated to keep them in tandem with the principles and philosophy.

Let us understand the above with an example. OmniScience has developed a Scientific Alpha investment framework from the first principles of Investing. With respect to investing one understands the concept of Risk and Reward. However, it has been interpreted many times wrongly. A layman definition is that high risk is high return. Or if you need high returns then you need to take higher risk. We believe this is a wrong interpretation. Conceptually, one must be compensated for taking higher risk with higher reward but, the question is does it actually happen. The correct interpretation is that when you are investing, and especially in a high-return asset class such as equities, you are exposed to various risks and if you are able to mitigate risks you can have higher rewards. The academic world links risk with fluctuation or volatility and measures it by standard deviation or beta. Here again, a security with high standard deviation is clearly risky but it is wrong to conclude that any high volatility security will give higher returns.

What one should understand is that since you are investing in a risky asset class you need to minimize your risk. This is the investment philosophy of the Scientific alpha framework – Risk Averseness. The concept of risk averseness was well understood by Benjamin Graham and it was implemented through the requirement of a Margin of Safety. He also defined an investment operation as one which involves thorough analysis, provides safety of capital and an adequate return. This formulates our guiding principles of the Scientific Alpha process – Safety of principal with adequate returns. This further helps define the rules and implementation which primarily focus on the risk mitigation process.

Scientific Alpha can be described as a structured value investing framework that focuses on risk mitigation to generate alpha. For risk mitigation one first needs to understand what risks are present and then understand how to mitigate it. Scientific Alpha framework classifies risk in three categories. First category is of the company specific risks and where these risks are mitigated, we call them SuperNormal Companies. Second category is of the investment related risk and where these risks are mitigated, we call them SuperNormal Price. This category is of the portfolio related risks and where the all three categories of risks are mitigated i.e., minimising chances of losing capital and generating adequate returns, we call it SuperNormal Portfolio. Let us understand each risk category in more detail.

– Benjamin Graham

The investor’schief problem – and

even his worst enemy– is likely to be himself.

InvestmentPhilosophy

InvestmentPrinciples

Investment Framework

InvestmentRules

Vikas Gupta, CEO & Chief Investment Strategist, Omniscience Capital

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03Business Risk: As an equity investor one becomes a partner in a firm and if the firm has an unstable business then there are chances of losing capital. The business stability can be determined based on multiple factors including revenue and earnings stability, profitability, margins, cash flow generation, etc.

Financial Risk: Another way to lose capital is by investing in companies with weak balance sheet – i.e., highly leveraged and poor cash flow generating capability. Any possible distress internal or external can put the firm at bankruptcy risk – with equity holders having the last recourse on company assets.

Persistent Advantage: The third way to lose capital is to invest in companies that do not allocate capital to generate shareholders wealth. This is where persistent competitive advantage is critical. A firm can sustainably allocate capital e�ciently only if it has a persistent advantage, so it is important to look at the track record of the firm for the effectiveness of capital allocation in the past.

Price Risk: Price risk or overpaying is the fourth way to lose capital. To mitigate this risk, one needs to estimate a conservative valuation and select stocks available a discount to the conservatively estimated intrinsic value.

Concentration Risk: Under diversification is another way of losing capital. Investing in a highly concentrated portfolio of 7 or 9 stocks is extremely speculative and can cause irreparable damage to the portfolio. Buffett himself own 100+ listed and unlisted stocks in his portfolio at Berkshire Hathaway whereas he is mis-interpreted as one vouching for no diversification.

Skewness Risk: Portfolio skewness created by investing most of the money in the top 3 or 4 high conviction ideas is another way one can lose capital. A company is exposed to multiple internal and external uncertainties. Economic, regulatory, corporate governance, disruption and many other uncontrollable factors can change one’s investment thesis and result in loss.

Model Portfolio (aka buy & hold): Buy and Hold or Buy and Forget approach is another risk. This approach exposes you to buying or retaining overvalued stocks, stocks where the business models have been disrupted or exposure to several other behavioural biases.

Indian IT services sector over the last few years is an interesting case study to understand the strengths of Scientific Alpha process and how it works. For more than two years, IT service company have formed a majority and significant part of the Scientific Alpha portfolios and it continues to be so. Let us see how IT Service companies fit the scientific alpha framework.


Company Specific Risks

Investment Related Risk

Portfolio Specific Risks

Stable Business: In the face of the technological transformation happening globally due to new age techs such as Automation, IoT, Cloud, IT companies have exhibited stable recurring cash flows while maintaining one of the best margins and profitability. For the top 15 firms, the median net margin was around 10-12% and return on equity around 20% over the last three years. The concern was on the visibility of growth.

Strong Balance sheet: One of the strongest balance sheets across the market. No debt, Cash rich balance sheets and steady cash flows. The companies started using the cash to execute buy backs in the last one year. Earlier the same companies have used the strong balance sheet to acquire numerous companies in the new age technologies, such as AI and IoT etc. This helped them build expertise, capabilities and competence in these fast-growth areas.

Persistent Advantage: There was a major negative sentiment over the IT services companies primarily on two counts. It was professed that the cost arbitrage model is over because with automation you will need only limited human resources. Secondly, the whole IT sector was criticized to have missed-the-bus of new age technological transformation. If one analyses deeper, both observations are untrue. All the IT firms are well-aware of the changing technologies and have focused on capability building for many years now. Only in the last three years, the top firms have done 75+ acquisitions spending more than 50,000 Cr. These acquisitions have been well targeted to acquire new technology, expert teams, new markets or vertical expertise. More than 80% of the human resources for almost all firms have been trained on the digital technologies till date. In fact, on an average 30% of the revenues have been secured from the digital deals as an evidence of the fact that the firms have developed capabilities to deliver on the digital assignments.


On cost arbitrage, the persistent advantage still remains. India has the largest pool of digital talent globally. Globally there is a shortfall of data scientists, analysts and digital professionals. Indian IT firms have a significant competitive advantage in terms of recruiting 100,000s of professionals, train them and put them on the job. Even for the global majors such as Accenture, IBM and others have almost 1/3rd of their work force in India. Price Risk: With the wide spread negative sentiment there was no issue of overvaluation, in fact the sector was available a significant discount to intrinsic value, a range of 30-70%.

Our investment thesis is based on the view that each IT services company is having two businesses – a low growth and stagnant legacy business and a vibrant, high growth Digital business. The digital business is showing significant traction and growing at a fast pace. As the digital business has gained significant size, we have now started seeing the rise in the overall growth numbers of the companies. The legacy business was masking the attractive digital business. In our view, if the IT companies were to spin off their digital businesses and list them as separate business, they would have gotten much better valuation, at times higher than the valuation of full company, including both, digital and legacy business.

Finally, let us also evaluate the current situation of the IT services pack. We will test the IT services pack through the Scientific Alpha framework of SuperNormal Companies @ SuperNormal Price. Refer to the Key Fundamentals table given below which presents the various fundamental parameters for the IT portfolio firms and the broader market (Nifty 500). On all parameters the IT portfolio numbers are significantly better whether it is ROE, Asset utilization, Debt to Equity or Margins).

We have been tracking the digital business revenues, growth rates, deal wins and partnerships by the IT services companies. The chart below shows that the DX business is almost 30% of the overall business and growing at around 30%+ rate

Chart1: IT firms digital business revenue share and growth rate; Source: OmniScience estimates, Company reports.

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Current DX Revenue Share DX Growth Rate

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ROA

ROCE

Sales to Asset

Key Fundamentals (Feb 28, 2019) IT Portfolio Nifty 500

ROE

5Yr Average ROCE

Net Debt to Equity

Interest Coverage

EBITDA Margin

Gross Debt to Equity

Gross Margin

EBIT Margin

Net Margin


The table below presents various valuation metrics. The test is to see if the SuperNormal companies (IT Portfolio) are also available at a SuperNormal price. Across various price multiples the IT portfolio is at a significant discount.

Indian IT Service companies are part of a technological breakthrough that is disrupting the world around us. With 5G implementation we will see a lot more traction towards the expected multi-trillion-dollar economic impact of both AI and IoT. The IT services companies play a significantly critical role of implementing these new age technologies at scale.

The above case of the IT sector companies shows how even for a well-researched sector such as IT which has 100s of Indian and Global analysts tracking it, the market can be making a mistake and Scientific Alpha framework is able to create a SuperNormal Portfolio of SuperNormal Companies @ SuperNormal Prices. The thesis has already played out delivering higher returns than the market in 2018 and continues to perform well. All of this, while actually exposing the portfolio to quantifiably lower risks.

2.58

11.41

1.53

30.24

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0.04

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3.91

12.37

1.7%

18.20

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P/Sales

Key Valuation Metrics (Feb 28, 2019) IT Portfolio Nifty 500

P/E

EV/EBIT

EV/Sales

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Div. Yield

Q.

Yes ! Within the current capital control context ( LRS - for resident investors) - the interest levels has been gradually increasing. Broadly supported by the following trends:

1. Dollar diversification : Given our context of resource (read capital) constrained growth economy, historically the currency has depreciated on an average 3-4% pa vs the USD and this trend is expected to continue in the foreseeable future as well. The depreciation however has been more of a step function rather than a smooth linear function. It therefore makes sense to have a part of the portfolio currency diversified.

2. Action in global, especially US equity markets : Us equity markets - largely led by the fast growing tech and tech enabled companies - have been on a tear for a while now ( how sustainable is this trend here on is a question for another day !) and there a distinct trend of FOMO (fear of missing out ) amongst the savvy investors. More and more Indian HNW investors are keen to get a piece of this action.

3. Increasing Global footprint of Indian HNW families - more and more HNW families now have a global footprint with Family members and business interests spread across jurisdictions. This has led to an increased familiarity and comfort with global investments - especially for the next generation which is distinct from the “home bias”’ seen with the earlier generations

Are Indian HNW Investors investing more globally off late?

Q.

This is a curious mix of a few distinct trends. 1. one set of investors - especially resident investors are driven by the need to either create a currency diversification in the investment portfolio or create a pool to acquire an asset, typically a residential property at a future date ( there is a restriction on the amount of remittance to 250k USD per resident individual per financial year, and leverage is not permitted and hence the need to build up a pool). In either of these cases capital preservation is the primary need and the investors prefer safer, lower risk options - good qualityshort duration bonds /bond funds ideally in geographies that they are comfortable with.(Asia)

2. There is a second set of investors who are keen to participate in the tech driven significant wealth creation that has been seen in the US equity markets - and are keen to evaluate well managed long only equity funds

3. The third set is the savvy NRI clients who have an exposure to and an experience with global investing. They are keen to look at more sophisticated investment options including alternates ( private investments in the unlisted space), global macro funds, specific geographic/ thematic funds etc

Which International Investment Opportunities are a BigDraw with Your Clients right Now?


Interview

Arpita VinayExecutive DirectorCentrum Wealth Management

Q.

A global diversified portfolio is not static, so the answer to this depends on the global macroeconomic view and the risk profile of the investor

Generically, based on the current macro outlook for a a moderate risk investor - 50-60% of portfolio could be in well diversified actively managed bonds / bond funds both in US and EM, 20% -30% in Equities through structures capital protected and FCNs with deep out of money KI barriers and well managed long only funds and 10% actively managed alternatives including market neutral macro funds and 10% in cash (as there might be some good buying opportunities likely to show up in second half of the year)

What an ideal globally diversified portfolio wouldlook like ?


Q.As Global investing gives access to more variety of products, understanding the risk associated with those products is of supreme importance. An investor who invests in stocks, bonds and balances mutual funds should be very careful while investing in a alternatives, FCNs, CLNs and swap contract, as it may entail more risks compared to traditional investments. The products in global markets are designed over the counter and understanding of the counter party risk is also of prime importance. And definitely if you have an un-hedged global portfolio you are exposed to the currency risk.

What are the key risks of investing abroad?

Q.

Building a global diversified portfolio need much more skill and competency as compared to a local portfolio. Before getting into the process of building a diversified global portfolio, I would like to mention there are many more variables at play here and therefore the knowledge of the global economy and its impact not only domestically but internationally is of prime importance as and one also needs to analyse it in detail. The basic principles of a portfolio construction remain unchanged, and broadly speaking following are the key steps involved in creating a globally diversified portfolio Step 1: Understanding the client’s utility function and liquidity preference which will include investment objective, risk appetite and the investment horizon

Step 2: Deciding on the asset class and market mix which is based on the thorough top down approach based on the Macroeconomic outlook

Step 3: Once the asset class mix and market mix is decided, ideally bottom up approach for selecting the assets or strategy for the investment Step 4: Risk alignment of the portfolio designed and making sure there is a proper diversification, and every asset class or strategy has the right size of risk as per the client’s utility function

Step 5: Ongoing continuous monitoring of the portfolio to ensure asset allocation and product / strategy selection and risk control guidelines are being adhered to

From the organisation point of view, it must invest in the right resources and talent to manage the process. It is prudent to have a well diversified investment committee of market practitionersacross asset classes and geographies to make sure the portfolio designed has adherence to principal of diligence and reasonable care and is aligned with the risk framework. The Investment committee also should make sure that the constructed portfolio is aligned with the global view and adheres to investor suitability.

What Are Steps Involved In Building A Diversified GlobalPortfolio?


Q.One can invest globally through the following:

Offshore Banks Accounts

Offshore Wealth Managers

Offshore Funds

How Can one Invest globally?

Q.Do’s

Don’t

Hire a good wealth adviser

Keep it simple and invest in things you understand, if you want to invest in a exotic product start with small and understand it well before you do so

Beware of the fees, especially in the in built variety. Some of the big platforms have a very high cost structure. Its prudent to do some comparison before deciding on your banker

Be tax aware, make sure you have a good accountant

Keep a track record of your investment decision

Overthink Hire good wealth advisers and agree on frameworks to evaluate performance on an going basis.

Overpay: Make sure that all the fees is crosschecked at a total level not only at the execution level.

What are the Dos & Donts of Global Investing?

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